With that little bit of hope I felt some of the angst leave me as I prepared to leave. I made sure the wig I wore was in place and fixed the shades on my face before heading for the door.
I still had one more night before Cade left the hospital. One more night to stake out his home just in case she showed up there.
It would be better if I could get inside, but he has the place so well protected that there was no way I could risk it. There’s no way she could make it there without anyone seeing her and I’d been there more than once in the last few days, so felt relatively sure that she hadn’t turned up there.
The thought of her being that close made the blood sting beneath my skin. Hate and anger warred inside me at the thought of my enemy. I checked my purse for the loaded gun I’d been carrying for the last few days.
If a missing woman turned up dead in the woods it wouldn’t be that much of a mystery and I had no reason to believe that anyone would look at me for it. But if she makes it back and the drug wears off…
Cade
They released me from the hospital a few hours later. That’s when I found out that I’d been there for three days. Three whole days of my life gone and I had hardly any recollection.
I had a hard time convincing my family that I was fine to drive but my adamants paid off. Mike brought the Rover to the hospital for me once it was clear that I wouldn’t give in and go home with mom and dad.
I drove through the streets to home wondering what this new chapter of my life would bring. Mom hadn’t been too pleased with the news of the broken engagement, but I put my foot down once and for all and brought an end to the whole mess.
My mind was filled with thoughts of my woman again. She’s all I’d seen while I laid in a coma. Her presence had been so real that I still find it hard to believe that she hadn’t been in that room with me.
Whatever, I take it as a sign that she was still out there somewhere waiting for me to come find her and bring her home. For the first time in a long while I felt real hope, that maybe this time luck will be on my side.
With my renewed sense of hope came a rush of excitement. I don’t know why these feelings chose to show up now after all this time, but I was glad for it. Only when I feel this close to her do I feel alive.
Maybe it was the thought of getting married to someone else that had propelled my subconscious mind into action. That part of me that had never given up hope was telling me to give it one more try.
I thought of that last night before I fell ill. Remembered how great it felt to finally be out from under that cloud that had been covering me ever since the day I opened my mouth and accepted Mindy’s proposal. Sacrilege.
I remember telling Mindy that I couldn’t marry her and the relief I’d felt. It was a weight off my chest to have that over and done with, even though my family said she’d come to the hospital while I was out.
I find that odd given the way I’d treated her, but I should’ve expected it. That’s just the kind of person she is, the kind of person she’s always been when it came to me.
It’s one of the reasons why even though I know she’s hurt now, I had to break things off for her sake. She deserves better than me. Someone as giving as she is should be loved cherished, adored. All the things I can never give her.
I’d broken the news to my family from my hospital bed even though it wasn’t the time or place. I just wanted to close out that chapter completely so I could get back to searching for my wife in peace.
As expected mom had freaked. Mindy was her best friend’s daughter. The girl she’d been trying to get me to marry since college. I know it hurt her, had seen the look on her face when I told her that there was no way I was ever going to marry the girl she’d chosen for me.
She’s an okay girl, but I just never saw her in that way. My heart never beat for her the way it does for my woman. I never longed to see her across the breakfast table from me every day for the rest of my life the way I still dream of doing with my Zandi.